The Hampstead Storm14 August 1975

David SmartResearch AssociateUCL Hazard Centre

University College London

d.smart@ucl.ac.uk

In Memoriam

Philip Eden

14 July 1951 – 3 January 2018

UCL Hazard Centre

● Multi-disciplinary- principally interested in geophysical hazards● Volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, tsunami● MSc (geophysical hazards), Natural Hazards for Insurers

certificate● Expertise in flooding, severe convective storms, cyclones● Strong links to insurance and re-insurance industries● Industry spin-offs in meteorological hazards-● Tropical Storm Risk (Hurricanes)● Eurotempest (Extratropical cyclones)

Outline of talk

● What happened on 14 August 1975● Brief review of the scientific literature on the storm● Nature of the ‘Hampstead Storm’ and quasi-

stationary convective storms● Similar events in the UK- localised flooding due to

thunderstorms● Some successes and failures in UK convective

storm forecasting since 1975

A hot summer’s day...

“For weeks, you may recall, there has been no rain... walking on the heath early that morning, the hard pan of clay...felt warm to the touch. The sultry breezes raised swirling dust devils that scuttled about like crabs.... [after 5 or 6 hours] the rain and the hail stones barrelled down... At times there seemed to be no rods of rain as you normally see them. It fell in misty sheets with a noise like boiling fat...”

John Hillaby, New Scientist, September 1975

Aftermath...

● 1 fatality (in flooded basement)● 2 injured (struck by lightning

sheltering beneath tree)● At least 250 made homeless● Sewer system overwhelmed● Very rapid onset of severest

flooding- 5 mins● Disruption to infrastructure- 4

mainline stations flooded● £1 million + loss (2017: £7-8m)

How much rain fell?

● 170.8 mm (6.72 in) at Hampstead

● 200 mm+ estimated due to violence of fall and gauge blocked by hail (observer Tyssen-Gee, HSS and RMS)

● Time 1620-1855 GMT● Parliament Hill gauge 100 mm● Max rain rate 125 mm/hr● Hail to 20-30 mm south of

epicentre

How unusual was the Hampstead storm?

● Bilham scale- “Very Rare”, Collier et al - “extreme event”● 170 mm highest ever recorded short duration rainfall figure

in London● Only exceeded in records by 193mm in two hours at

Walshaw Dean Reservoir, West Yorkshire, on 19 May 1989 (?)

● 1 in 20,000 chance in particular year within 1km (Keers & Wescott, Weather, 1976)

● 1 in 25 year event for Greater London area (K&W)● Highly localised (~100 km^2)

Other examples of high convective rainfall from north London area:

● 23 June 1878- 83.1 mm at Camden Square in 1 1/2hr● 14 June 1914- 76 mm+ Richmond to Staines● 6 May 1915- 76mm+ highly localised in City and Kings Cross● 16 June 1917- 101 mm (4in) + Kensington● 9-10 July 1923 - 65.3 mm at Hampstead● 6 August 1952- 120 mm Boreham Wood, Herts, Middlesex● 7 June 1963- 94 mm Mill Hill, north London● 8 May 1988- 88.5 mm at Uxbridge, 57 mm at Hampstead● 7 August 2002- 60 mm in ~1 hr, flooding in Camden

In the context of UK flooding events...

Synoptic situation 14 August 1975

● Slow moving low pressure and frontal system west of UK

● Low pressure over France● Warm and moist air

advected in from continent (WBPT > 20C)

● Drier, cooler air to west-increasing cloud cover

● Not unusual for UK summer

Mesoscale situation 12 UTC

● Temperatures in east to 29-30C● ‘Heat Low’ forming inland● Confluence of air masses over

east and south-east● Sea breeze-like flow into London● Scattered thunderstorms north of

London● Hampstead storm grows from

single cumulus cloud into a ‘Cumulo-nimbus’ with at least 3 cells

Visual appearance? No satellite or radar imagery, but...

Photo: Mill Hill storm 1963 (Grove, thesis, 1977)

Modelling studies at Imperial College

● Martin Miller- published in QJRMS (1978)

● Relatively simple numerical 3-D cloud model with crude microphysics

● 1km grid 30X30X10 (9000) points

● Initialised with modified profile from Crawley balloon ascent and a ‘warm bubble’

Miller (...and Grove) 1978

Miller (...and Grove) 1978

● Despite simplicity surprisingly successful

● Typical rain rates 25-50 mm/hr

● Grid point rates up to 200 mm/hr (artefact?)

● Inflow from southeast (centre of city)

● Terrain not important in obtaining a severe storm

Nature of the Hampstead storm-

Nature of the Hampstead storm-

● Increased wind shear displaces downdraught from updraught

● ‘Daughter cells’ form on flank of regenerating storm

● Storm organisation increases longevity and severity

● ‘Cell training’ or ‘back-building’ ● Resembles ‘supercell’

conceptual model by Keith Browning early 1960s

Bailey et al, Meteorological Magazine (1981)

● Early Met Office mesoscale forecast model- 10 km grid 61X62X10- 36,000 points (current UKV ~35 million)

● Predicts thunderstorms but 4 hrs late

● Depiction of cloud cover over England important to forecast

● Rain rates and totals?!● Hints at things to come...

Advances since 1975-Boscastle Flash Flood, August,

2004

Boscastle- 16 August 2004

Boscastle- reforecasts

Coverack, Cornwall 18 July 2017

In ~1 hour- 105 mm at gauge 3km away, 200+mm radar estimate (contaminated by hail?), ~170mm from bucket estimate, 30 mm hail.

Coverack- Met Office forecast model

Left: UKV 1.5km model forecast. Right: radar image

15 September 2016- back-building thunderstorms in NW London

Extensive surface water flooding and transport disruption NW London

15 September 2016

Analysed surface airflow, satellite image, radar 15 UTC

15 September 2016-radar loop

15 September 2016

Organised thunderstorm (‘supercell’) in Reading area produced 2-3 cm hail.

Sources● Atkinson BW, 1977.Urban effects on precipitation: an investigation of London’s influence on the severe storm in

August 1975, Occasional Paper No. 8, Department of Geography, Q.M.C.,London.● Bailey, M. J., Carpenter, K. M., Lowther, L. R., & Passant, C. W., 1981. A mesoscale forecast for 14 August 1975 - the

Hampstead storm. Meteorological Magazine, June, 110, 147--.● Doe RK (Editor), 2015. Extreme Weather: Forty Years of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO).

Wiley-Blackwell. ● Evans A, Haycock N, Pitcher A, 2011. The Haycock Review: HiDEP WP 20 - Review of the August 1975 Storm

relative to the 1: 10 000 year rainfall event. City of london.● Grove SM, 1977. Cumulonimbus convection and large-scale shower rainfall. Thesis, Imperial College, London.● Hand, W. H., Fox, N. I. and Collier, C. G. (2004), A study of twentieth century extreme rainfall events in the United ‐

Kingdom with implications for forecasting. Met. Apps, 11: 15-31. doi:10.1017/S1350482703001117● Hillaby John, 1975. Out and about: Strictly for the record. New Scientist, 11 September 1975.● Keers JF and Wescott P, 1976. The Hampstead storm - 14 August 1975, Weather, 31, 2-10.● Miller MJ, 1972. Numerical modelling of moist convection in two and three space dimensions. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. of

London. 196 pp.● Miller, M. J. (1978), The Hampstead storm: A numerical simulation of a quasi stationary cumulonimbus system. Q.J.R. ‐

Meteorol. Soc., 104: 413-427. ● Miller MJ and Pearce RP, 1974. A three-dimensional primitive equation model of cumulonimbus convection. Quart. J.

Roy. Meteor. Soc., 100, pp 133-154.

Summary

● ‘Hampstead Storm’ a paradigm event for quasi-stationary thunderstorm flash flooding in UK

● Questions:● Predictability?● Frequency?● Role of local orography and urban fabric in London

conurbation?● Is current infrastructure up to the job of coping with

these sorts of events now and in the future?

Constable- Hampstead after a Thunder Storm,

John Constable, Hampstead after a Thunder Storm, ~1830. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection